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According to Japanese media reports, on the 8th, Japan issued the "Nankai Trough Earthquake Temporary Information (Major Earthquake Reminder)" for the first time, causing Japanese people to rush to buy disaster prevention items, and some supermarkets have implemented purchase limits on scarce goods.

Earthquake experts said that although the probability of strong earthquakes has increased, the probability of occurrence is still small. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries called for no excessive stockpiling of supplies.

Disaster prevention supplies are in short supply in Japanese supermarkets, officials urge people not to stock up excessively

According to the Japan Times, a supermarket in Tokyo, Japan posted a notice on the 10th local time to apologize to customers for the shortage of some goods due to "temporary earthquake information."

The notice also said bottled water was being rationed due to "erratic" procurement and that "potential sales restrictions are imminent."

On the morning of the 10th, the website of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten showed that portable toilets, pickled foods and bottled water were hot sellers.

Some retailers along Japan's Pacific coast also said there was a great demand for similar disaster prevention-related supplies, local media reported.

Earthquake experts stressed that although the earthquake risk has increased, the probability of a strong earthquake is still low. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries urged people "not to over-stock goods."

Meanwhile, spam messages taking advantage of concerns about Japan's earthquake have sprung up on social media platform "X," The Japan Times reported.

The Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) said that spam messages disguised as earthquake-related alerts would appear on the "X" platform every few seconds, and the attached links would lead users to pornographic or e-commerce websites.

NHK said such posts were "making it increasingly difficult for users to obtain authentic information about the earthquake".

On August 10, the peak of Japan's traditional Obon Festival homecoming officially began. Japanese media reported that during this Obon holiday, Japanese people still did not forget to be prepared for earthquakes at home or when traveling.

It is reported that many domestic flights departing from Tokyo Haneda Airport, including flights to "assumed disaster-affected areas", are now fully booked. At JR Tokyo Station, reserved seats for downbound trains are almost sold out, and the Tokaido Shinkansen is running at a reduced speed due to temporary information.

During the Obon Festival, the reserved seat reservations for the Shinkansen and ordinary lines of the six JR passenger companies as of July 25 were about 1.2 times that of the previous year. Domestic flight reservations of airlines were the same as the previous year.

The likelihood of a major earthquake has increased several times, but there is no need to evacuate

Previously, around 4:43 p.m. on the 8th, an earthquake with a Japanese standard intensity of 6 (7.1 on the Richter scale) was observed in the southern part of Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. Subsequently, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a warning in the temporary information of the Nankai Trough Earthquake, saying that "compared with usual times, the possibility of a Nankai Trough earthquake is relatively increased."

The Japan Meteorological Agency said that in the next week or so, people should be on guard against earthquakes of magnitude 6 or less.

Naoki Hirata, professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo, said at a press conference on the 8th: "In places where huge earthquakes can occur at any time, the probability of (a large earthquake) occurring has increased to several times higher than usual." He also emphasized that if cases around the world are taken into account, the probability of occurrence is about one in a hundred, and the exact location cannot be predicted.

The head of the Japan Meteorological Agency said: "Although there is no need to evacuate specifically, we hope that (people) will confirm shelters so that they can escape immediately if an earthquake occurs."

The Japan Meteorological Agency began issuing provisional information under its current name in 2019, proposing assessments such as "alert," "caution," and "investigation ended," depending on the size of an earthquake and the occurrence of abnormal phenomena that could lead to a major earthquake.

If the moment magnitude (Mw), an international indicator of earthquake size, exceeds 8, an "alert" will be issued to request some residents to evacuate in advance. If an earthquake of magnitude 7 or above but below 8 occurs, a "caution" will be issued to call for reconfirmation of earthquake response preparations. If it does not fall into the above two categories, it will be assessed as "investigation completed."

On the 8th, the temporary information released by the Japan Meteorological Agency was of the "Caution" category.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said that among the 1,437 earthquakes of Mw7 or above that occurred worldwide between 1904 and 2014, there were six cases of huge earthquakes of Mw8 or above occurring in the same area within seven days, including the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Japanese media reported that the Japanese archipelago, which has a population of 125 million, experiences about 1,500 earthquakes each year, most of which are minor.

This article is an exclusive article of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.